On paper, a lot of things went right for UMass in their battle
with top-seeded BC in the Hockey East Quarterfinals on Friday. In
the second period, the Minutemen allowed just three shots by the
Eagles. Unfortunately for UMass, two of the shots found the back of
the net.

Pat Mullane opened the scored at 17:46 of the middle frame and
captain Tommy Cross tallied 39 seconds later to put BC ahead, 2-0.
A goal by Steven Guzzo cut the Eagles’ lead in half, but
goalie Parker Millner shut them down the rest of the way.

BC now leads the series 1-0. UMass will look to stay alive when
the two teams square off again on Saturday night at 7
o’clock.

UNH stuns BU in 2OT

New Hampshire deserves plenty of credit for their return to
respectability in the second half of the regular season. Their
hopes of continuing that roll in the Hockey East Tournament got off
to a good start on Friday night.

Grayson Downing scored two minutes into the second overtime
session, giving No. 6 UNH a 3-2 win over No. 3 Boston University.
Goaltender Casey DeSmith stopped 32-of-34, including all 18 shots
he faced from the start of the third period on.

The Wildcats leads the series 1-0 and will look to close out the
Terriers on Saturday at 4 o’clock when they meet again at
Agganis Arena.

Lowell narrowly stays alive against
Providence

After a resurgent season that saw them finish in second place in
Hockey East, UMass-Lowell narrowly avoided getting swept by No. 7
Providence. After falling 5-3 at Tsongas Arena on Thursday, the
River Hawks needed overtime to pull out the win on Saturday
night.

Zach Kamrass tallied 11:29 into the extra session to keep Lowell
alive in the tournament. River Hawks netminder Doug Carr was superb
after allowing two quick goals in the second period. He stopped all
16 shots he faced in third and over time.

The two teams will have off Saturday before squaring off in the
third, deciding tilt on Sunday at 4 o’clock.

Maine’s relentless attack powers win over
Merrimack

After securing home ice for their opening-round series in the
final weekend of the regular season, No. 4 Maine dispatched No. 5
Merrimack on Friday night. The Black Bears fired 41 shots on
goaltender Joe Cannata over the course of the tilt, 17 of which
came during the second period after Merrimack tallied in the
opening frame.

Joey Diamond and Kyle Beattie scored 4:14 apart in the middle
frame. Netminder Dan Sullivan stopped everything Merrimack threw
his way from there on out.